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Desperate Typhoon Haiyan survivors struggle to get aid

The Washington Post

Posted:
11/11/2013 12:01:00 AM MST

Updated:
11/11/2013 01:05:38 AM MST

Residents cover their nose from the smell of dead bodies in Tacloban city, Leyte province central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. The city remains littered with debris from damaged homes as many complain of shortage of food, water and no electricity since the Typhoon Haiyan slammed into their province. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms on record, slammed into six central Philippine provinces Friday leaving a wide swath of destruction and hundreds of people dead. (AP | Bullit Marquez)

SEOUL, South Korea — The super typhoon that tore through the Philippines and left a feared five-figure death toll touched down in central Vietnam early Monday, already ranking as one of Asia's most destructive natural disasters in recent decades.

Its sustained winds weakened to 74 mph as the typhoon made landfall in northern Vietnam after crossing the South China Sea, according to the Hong Kong meteorological observatory. Authorities there evacuated hundreds of thousands of people.

In the Philippines, as rescue workers struggled to reach some areas along a heavily damaged chain of islands, survivors described a toll that this impoverished country will be contending with for years.

Entire regions are without food and water, and bodies are strewn on the streets, after a typhoon that had much the look of a tsunami, with waves as high as two-story buildings. Photos and videos showed towns ground to a pulp.

With reports of widespread looting, President Benigno Aquino III said he was considering declaring a state of emergency or martial law in the hard-hit city of Tacloban.

Aquino, who traveled Sunday by helicopter to Tacloban, said the government had deployed several hundred soldiers to "show the strength of the state and deter further looting," according to his official website.

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With unconfirmed wire service reports of about 10,000 dead in Tacloban alone, Typhoon Haiyan threatened to become the deadliest disaster in Philippine history, surpassing Tropical Storm Thelma, which killed 5,000 people in 1991. With sustained wind speeds of 150 to 170 mph, Haiyan is among the strongest storms on record.

"Tacloban is totally destroyed," public school teacher Andrew Pomeda told the Philippine Daily Inquirer. "Some people are losing their minds from hunger or from losing their families. People are becoming violent. They are looting business establishments, the malls, just to find food. I'm afraid that in one week, people will be killing from hunger."

The latest Philippine government estimates suggest that 9.5 million people — about 10 percent of the country — have been affected, with more than 600,000 displaced from their homes.

Many roads remain impassable, according to the U.N. office responsible for humanitarian affairs, and some injured survivors have no access to medical care.

"It is vital that we reach those who are stranded in isolated areas as they are at risk of further threats such as malnutrition, exposure to bad weather and unsafe drinking water," said Luiza Carvalho, a U.N. humanitarian coordinator.

Tacloban, with a population of 220,000, is the capital of Leyte province, a mountainous island roughly the size of Delaware.

On Samar, a slightly larger island nearby, Leo Dacaynos of the provincial disaster office told The Associated Press that 300 people were dead, 2,000 were missing and parts of the island had not been contacted.

Both Samar and Leyte are on the eastern side of the Philippine archipelago. Reports about islands on the western side remain sparse.

Although the storm blazed through Friday, a partial picture of the damage is emerging only now as communication lines reopen.

As of Sunday evening, the government had confirmed 229 deaths, but Aquino said the official numbers will rise "substantially."

In Tacloban, the airport had been reduced to a husk of twisted beams. Ships and tankers had been flung onto shore. Philippine television reported that ATMs were being looted, as well as malls and grocery stores.

With a massive relief operation underway, the Philippine Red Cross told the AP that its efforts were being hampered by looters, including some who attacked trucks of food and other relief supplies that the agency was shipping Sunday to Tacloban.

In a statement Sunday, President Barack Obama said the U.S. is prepared to help the Philippines recover and that he and first lady Michelle Obama are deeply saddened by the deaths and destruction caused by the disaster.

Obama said the United States is providing humanitarian assistance, "and we stand ready to further assist the government's relief and recovery efforts."

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